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Monthly Archives: April 2008

I hope you’ve had a chance to look over at the Itty Bitty Baby Dress Flickr group — there’s some mighty cute dresses in there to inspire you to get your rear in gear and make your own. Don’t forget to add yours to the group when you’re done.

This should be arriving shortly at the doorstep of one of my seesters…It’s about 8″ or so, with a blue lining to match. Two pockets inside for credit cards and cash:

I’ve been using mine non-stop since I made it. It’s just so handy to toss in a diaper bag or knitting bag or even a coat pocket. Fabric is Japanese import from Superbuzzy (which I noticed is having a spring sale right now!).

* * * UPDATE: I have decided not to post the baby pants pattern after all. After scanning in the pattern I realized it represented a huge time-sink. I’m really sorry to leave some of you hanging, but it’s just not going to happen anytime soon. * * *

A few weeks ago my friend Bri brought her 4 y.o. Ethan over for lunch. As I was showing her this little wristlet, Ethan pronounced it perfect for holding markers and proved it by demonstrating that it did, indeed, fit his markers perfectly. I loved that he was willing to overlook the fact that it was covered in flowers. In fact I almost made him one just like it but I had this other fabric that I thought he might like more (and would probably stand the test of time better as he inevitably gets brainwashed by gender stereotypes in school). So here’s Ethan’s marker case:

The fabric was purchased from Superbuzzy awhile back (see left bar for the link). I appliqued the felt “E” on by first gluing it with craft glue and then blanket stitching it by machine. It’s not lined but that’s probably better as the main function is holding markers.

Have you read this post on Sweet Juniper? It makes me sad when kids reach a point where they reject certain things because they are too “boy” or too “girl”. But it also amazes me how uncomfortable we get if they stray too far outside their gender roles. I am fully aware that I am responsible for the gender socialization of my own baby. I just can’t bring myself to put him in a dress or pink pants with ruffles. If you’d ask me, I’d tell you that boys can wear pink, yet the only pink clothing items my one year old wears are diapers.

A friend of ours has a hilarious story about sending her son to kindergarten in a dress as he threw a fit when she tried to get him to wear pants. When I’ve retold that story some people are horrified. Why is that? Then I ask myself what on earth would I do in that situation, and I’m just thankful we’re not there yet. What would you do? Does anyone have any stories? As a new parent I’m REALLY interested in this topic.

Another recent sewing project was a couple of pairs of big butt baby pants for Loki and Leif, two babies who Elliot hangs out with who also turned one a few weeks ago:

Both of these boys wear cloth diapers like Elliot. I discovered that the classic baby pants patterns out there are not quite big enough to accommodate the cloth diaper butt, so I made up my own pattern with longer legs for my tall baby and an extra panel in the back for cloth diapers.These pairs have pockets on the side and bias tape in contrasting colors. The size is 18 months, so hopefully they’ll fit this summer or fall. I’ve actually scanned in the pattern, but it needs some modification (it’s 7 pages long) before I’ll post it. So stay tuned (as usual)!

Here’s one of the things I’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks — a pattern for y’all. It was a baby dress I made up last summer (and consequently inspired my first post here).

Here is the most recent version:

This dress is made with two fabrics, one for the outside and one for the lining. I also made my own bias tape out of the pinky-peach color, but it’s alot easier to just use store-bought bias tape and piping (which looks really nice around the waist).

The dress ties at the shoulders and is easiest to get on over the legs (as opposed to over the head). No zippers or buttonholes, so it’s ridiculously easy and fast to make.

One thing I want to stress about this pattern is that it really is VERY SMALL. Like so small it would probably sell as a preemie dress at a store, but as many of you know, often newborn babies are really really small and nothing fits them for that first month. So I was trying to make a pattern that would fit right from birth. Additionally, since they grow so fast in the beginning, it won’t fit for a terribly long time. The first one I made (for friend Carrie’s baby Avery) only fit for a few weeks.

So if you’re thinking you want to make this for a bigger baby I’d go ahead and just enlarge it on a copier. There’s a ton of give size-wise in the skirt though, so you could probably even get away with keeping the skirt the same size and just enlarging the bodice for a larger baby if you want. Happy Sewing!

READ THIS FIRST: This file is intended for PERSONAL USE ONLY. Please respect my wishes for the use of this pattern. Thanks! A license-to-sell is now available for home sewists, please click here to purchase it, or read more about my seller’s program here.